The Avengers Volume 1
by comicbookfan23
Summary: AU - Earth 1232 - Issue 2: After dealing with Loki, the Avengers are busy finding the Hulk and after a brief scuffle, he retreats. Only, when he shows up again, he's made an ally of a certain "mutant" who's got a grudge against humanity!
1. Team Roster

**The Avengers' Roster**:

**Thor Odinson** AKA **Dr. Donald Blake** - Being an Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor possesses immense superhuman strength, virtually inexhaustible godly stamina, extraordinary resistance to physical injury, superhuman agility and reflexes. He also summon the elements of the storm (lightning; rain; wind) and uses Mjolnir as a tool to focus this ability. Through the use of Mjolnir; Thor can also fly, absorb and project energy, create dimensional apertures and manipulate matter.

**Iron Man** AKA **Anthony "Tony" Stark** - Wealthy industrialist Tony Stark dons a sophisticated suit of armour of his own design to protect mankind. With it, he possesses superhuman strength, durability, flight and an array of weaponry including; repulsor rays, a uni-beam projector in its chest, pulse bolts, an EMP generator, and a defensive energy shield as well as other capabilities.

**Giant-Man** AKA **Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym** - A brilliant scientist, Pym discovered an unusual set of subatomic particles he named "Pym Particles", and experimented them on himself, finding that it gave him the ability to shrink to the size of insects. He also constructed a cybernetic helmet which allows him to communicate with and control ants. He's also currently dating Janet van Dyne (see below). Now, after further experimentation with his "Pym Particles", Hank's now able to grow to gigantic height as well, gaining superhuman strength and heightened durability. His strength varies according to the height he achieves.

**The Wasp** AKA **Janet Van Dyne** - A wealthy socialite, fashion designer and paramour of Ant Man, Janet makes use of the cellular implantation of subatomic Pym Particles, granting her the ability to shrink to the size of a wasp (hence the moniker), fly by means of insectoid wings (which appear only at small size), and fire bio-electric energy blasts she dubs her "wasp's stings".


	2. The Coming of the Avengers!

Enemies**:**

**Loki Laufeyson** - The Asgardian God of Lies and Mischief, he's Thor's foster brother and his most sworn enemy, always wanting to prove that he's the better. As well as possessing superhuman physical traits, but not as powerful as Thor's, Loki's also a powerful sorcerer; wielding vast magical energy manipulation abilities that enable him to accomplish almost anything. He also wields a regenerative healing factor, powerful extrasensory abilities and possesses highly-developed shape-shifting capabilities.

**The Hulk** AKA **Bruce Banner** - Possesses near-limitless physical strength depending directly on his emotional state, particularly his anger, he also possesses vast superhuman durability, healing and endurance. He can also leap vast distances and has displayed sufficient superhuman speed to match even Thor.

* * *

Issue 1

Sitting by himself on a lonesome rock situated in the middle of the dreaded Isle of Silence, located north of Asgard, home of the Asgardians or otherwise known as the Norse Gods, the God of Mischief himself was busily plotting awesome revenge against the mightiest of his enemies, the Thunder God known to all as **Thor**!

He suddenly stood up, his hands up in the air in exasperation, the plotting was starting to exhaust his genius-level intellect, "Ugh! It is because of that blasted Thor that I am exiled here, ordered to remain here by Odin himself!" The mere utter of both names made his blood boil as the God of Mischief continued to plot on how he was going to get his revenge on the Thunder God.

He managed to think of a way in a matter of mere seconds. With the power of thought projection, **Loki **sent his disembodied self past the Rainbow Bridge that led down to Midgard (what the Asgardians called Earth) in search of a way to lure Thor back to Asgard where they could once do battle, and he would be rid of the Thunder God forever.

* * *

**New York City, New York**

As his thoughts continued to descend into the human world known as Earth, Loki immediately found Thor but in his human guise as Dr. Donald Blake. In a small medical practice, a few blocks away from Central Park, **Dr. Donald Blake** was attending to one of his regulars in his examining room, a small boy of eight-years, Bobby Jensen was his name.

"Okay Bobby, now I want you to open your mouth as wide as you can and say "Ah" for me please," Donald instructed, and as soon as Bobby did as he was asked, Donald could see what the problem was straight the way.

"Just as I thought Bobby, you have a small bout of tonsillitis. Nothing a little "magic" medicine can't heal. Jane, could you prescribe some penicillin for little Bobby here please." He asked his nurse, a beautiful brunette with her shoulder-length hair tied into a ponytail and garbed in her dark-navy dress uniform.

"Of course, Dr. Blake. Mrs. Jensen, if you could follow me into reception, I shall prescribe you the needed medicine," Jane replied, opening the door and leaning against it with her body so Mrs. Jensen and her son could walk by.

Leaving him alone in the room Dr. Blake, grabbing his cane which was leant against the table, hobbled his way out of the room and into his office next door, taking his seat behind his desk. Unbeknownst to him, Loki was watching his every move with his thought projection but not liking what he was seeing.

"_Huh! This simply just won't do at all! I can't defeat Thor in his human guise! It would be a hollow victory on my part. No, I must find a way to make the noble doctor transform into the mighty Thor but the question is, how?_" Loki spoke telepathically, Dr. Blake unable to hear him as he continued to work on his paperwork that lay piled up on his desk.

Thanks to his genius-level intellect he came up with the plan as quickly as godly possible, his thought projection leaving the scene of Dr. Blake's office to super-naturally scan the entire planet until he found what he was looking for.

* * *

After what seemed to him like an eternity, the God of Mischief eventually came across the menace he'd been searching for.

Somewhere in New Mexico, covering the area of rose-coloured desert in fantastic, powerful leaps, a figure of gigantic proportions, with arms and legs as big as tree-trunks, green skin and garbed in a pair of ripped pale-blue jeans was unaware that it was being watched by the God of Mischief himself.

"_Yes! I have finally found the menace worthy of grabbing Thor's undivided attention. __**The Incredible Hulk**__, a being of such incalculable strength and who is feared by mankind because of it! He shall be the perfect pawn in my plan!_" Loki schemed, watching as the Hulk continued on his trek across the deserts, seeming to be in a world of his own.

Soon enough the Hulk was approaching a railroad trestle which was built over a small crevice in the earth, the crevice being around a mile long, as a train could be heard faintly in the distance.

"_That's perfect! Now for the next phase in my plan._" With no moment to lose, Loki projected a mental image of a group of men who appeared to be strapping several bombs to the metal beams of the trestle in an attempt to blow it up and crash the train.

The Hulk, having no idea that they were actually an illusion dreamt up by the God of Mischief, bounded down from above in an endeavour to stop them from taking innocent lives. However as soon as he neared the bombers, they simply disappeared into thin air and the Hulk realized too late that he couldn't stop himself. Misjudging the force of his dive, the green colossus hurtled onto the trestle, shattering some of the tracks in the process.

As the distant train vastly drew nearer, one of the drivers poked his head out of the side and noticed the dilemma up ahead.

"Charlie! Charlie, stop the train! Something's smashed the trestle up ahead! We're gonna crash!" The driver yelled over the noise of the engine but Charlie, the other driver, could barely hear him.

"Impossible! We're going to fast! We won't be able to stop in time!"

"_Oh, this is too brilliant! My plan's working accordingly! Once the train crashes, the Hulk will be blamed for it and will become one of the most wanted men on the planet! Then Dr. Blake will have to change into Thor to help in his capture, little knowing that it was I who dreamt up such a scheme! What? What is the Hulk doing?"_ Loki asked himself astonishingly, watching with widened eyes as the green-skinned hero lifted a massive boulder with his tremendous strength.

With the boulder lifted overhead, the Hulk sauntered over to the wrecked trestle and placed it right underneath it. Afterward, jumping on top of it, Hulk used it as support for himself as he peeked through the gap to observe the approaching train.

"Look! That head sticking out through the tracks!" The driver informed Charlie, who in turn, looked through the small window in front of him, "It's the Hulk, Frank! He's trying to kill us! I - I can't stop in time!"

With literally no time to waste Hulk, using his superhuman strength, twisted the metal beams into a makeshift track before supporting it with his back, just in time for the train to pass over him safely. Straining underneath the unbelievable weight of the train, Hulk willed himself to hold on just a little longer until the train had safely passed. When it did the Hulk let go of the beams and jumped out of the way in time before the entire trestle collapsed.

As the Hulk leaped into the air on his way again, Loki, back at the Isle of Silence, laughed menacingly as everything was happening according to plan, "He may have saved the train but the humans will think that he tried to slay them! The hunt will be on soon…and Thor will be summoned, all thanks to Loki, the master schemer!" His menacing laughter disturbing the quietness of the island.

* * *

**The Next Day, Someplace in New Mexico**

As soon as the newspapers were delivered to every newsstand, newsagent, people's homes etc, there was an immediate uproar about the front page story about the Incredible Hulk and his "attempt" to kill innocent lives by smashing a railroad trestle in order to crash the train. One of the people reading the newspaper was **Rick Jones**, who was a close friend of the Hulk's and of course his alter-ego's, **Dr. Bruce Banner**, who read it in complete incomprehension, "I can't believe it! The Hulk would never do such a thing…or, or would he?" He asked himself as he packed the paper into his backpack and climbed onto his motorbike, shaking the thought away as he put on his helmet, "If the Hulk _is _innocent, he needs help and fast but if he's guilty, and I hope to God he isn't, it'll take more than the army to take him down! I'm going to have to find someone with equal super-powers like the **Fantastic Four**!" He replied in realization, knowing full well that if it was help he needed, they would give it with no questions asked.

From the front of his backpack Rick unzipped the large pocket and fished out his cell-phone, using it to call one Johnny Storm, a very good friend of his and member of the Fantastic Four, known to the world as **The Human Torch**! It rung several times before delivering the message: "_Hi, Johnny here! As you well know I'm not able to pick up at this point. Probably saving the world from some evil genius so please, leave a message, and I'll try to get back to you. Bye._" Once the message had finished and the beep occurred for Rick to say what he needed to say, he did so quickly to get as much information on the current situation as possible before the next beep. As soon as finished, he put his phone back in his backpack and revved his motorbike, back wheel spinning on the spot before he accelerated with a loud roar into the direction of a certain cave in the desert where the Hulk sometimes resided to get away from the world who call him a "monster"…

Through his all-seeing eyes Loki was fuming with anger, "No! I cannot have others after the Hulk. It must only be Thor!" Utilizing his great mental powers, Loki manipulated the EM Spectrum, changing and diverting the message to reach Dr. Blake's phone instead of the Human Torch's.

"There. I have done it. Now I must observe in hopes that my "interruption" has put my plan back on track."

* * *

**New York City, New York**

Back at the medical practice where Dr. Blake currently worked, the doctor himself was back in his office, sorting out the mysterious mound of paperwork that seemed to pile up by the day when his cell-phone started to vibrate. The sudden noise causing Don to jump in his chair, the papers he was working on falling to the floor in a scattered mess.

"Oh for the love of," he snapped, no-one in the room at that moment to question his frustration, as he reached out for the phone and noticed that it was a text message from Rick Jones.

_Strange. It seems I've received a message from Rick Jones. If I can remember correctly, he's associated with the physicist Dr. Bruce Banner, who was involved in an experiment, funded by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, to revive a WWII supersoldier project but the goal of it was to make humans immune to gamma radiation. From what the newspapers and the broadcasts reported, the experiment failed, causing an explosion but Dr. Banner emerged completely unharmed. I wonder what it could be about? _Don contemplated, touching the needed buttons to read Rick's message.

"_Hulk seems to be on the rampage somewhere in New Mexico. Need all the help I can get to bring him down before any civilians get hurt_," it read, Don putting it away as soon as he'd read it.

"That's strange. That doesn't sound like the Rick Jones I know. But still, if what he says is true and Hulk _is _on the rampage, then he's going to need more than just _my _help," Don told himself aloud, reaching out for his walking cane that was leant up against the side of his desk.

Because for Don to acquire such "higher" help, he must grasp his cane and strike it against the floor once, which will cast off his mortal guise and transform him into the mighty Thor, God of Thunder.

Doing so the fantastic transformation commenced, surrounding Don in a shroud of bright, white light, before dissipating and revealing Thor in his place…garbed in his standard Asgardian attire, complete with flowing red cape and winged helmet. In his hand he gripped his might Uru hammer, Mjolnir by its leather thong and immediately commenced in swinging it over his head. In seconds crackles of blue lightning flashed from the hammer as Thor continued to swing it before its energies opened up a gateway that swallowed him up just as fast as it was formed.

Seconds later Donald's nurse, **Jane Foster**, entered his office with some papers held tightly against her bosom, "Dr. Blake, I was wondering if you'd --," she stopped as soon as she saw that she was all alone in the room. "Dr. Blake?" She tucked a strand of brown hair that was dangling in front of her face behind her ear, huffing in sudden annoyance, "Oh, where has he got to this time?"

* * *

**Elsewhere in a small laboratory in New York City**

"Come on Janet, we haven't got all day!" called **Henry "Hank" Pym**, who was known to the world as **Ant-Man**. He was already garbed in his superhero costume, consisting of a full-body, spandex suit that was coloured dark crimson except for his gloves and boots, which were dark blue. The dark blue also coloured around his waist like a belt, right up his chest whilst forming a circle in the middle, and finishing around the collarbone area.

On his head, he wore a silver helmet shaped like his moniker, complete with antennae that stuck out on the top of it and pincers that formed around his mouth. This was his Cybernetic Helmet, which enabled him to speak telepathically to insects, mostly ants…obviously.

"Alright Hank, you don't need to worry! I'm here," Janet's sweet voice occurred from the doorway as she appeared alongside Hank, who was stocking up on their serums that enabled them both the ability to shrink to that of an insect and back again. In Janet's case, through his knowledge of biochemistry, Hank had also managed to give her the ability to grow insect-like wings whenever she minimized, enabling her to fly and also fire bio-electric blasts from her hands strong enough to cut through steel.

When he had stocked the capsules safely in his utility belt, Hank turned to the woman he was madly in love with, who also returned his feelings, and took a good look at her. **Janet Van Dyne** AKA **The Wasp** was currently wearing her newest costume and, thanks to her knowledge of fashion designing, it looked fantastic on her slender figure. The ensemble consisted of a sleeve-less, leather crop-top as well as a pair of leather leggings to match. She wore finger-less gloves that both had a 'W' in the centre and a pair of black platform boots with yellow-coloured wedged soles and heels. She looked amazing and Hank couldn't help but stare at the way it hugged her hips and showed off her perfect abdominals.

"Eyes up here Hank," Janet replied softly, finding him positively drooling at her but finding it no way offensive. She knew exactly what effect she had on him and loved to play along with it for all that it was worth.

"Oh, yeah, sorry Janet. You caught me a little off guard there. Is that a new costume?" Hank asked, scratching the back of his head as he tried to remember if he'd seen it before.

"It's a modification of the one before. Times are changing if you didn't already know Hank and my old one was _so _1980s I thought I could do with a little change myself." Janet stated earnestly, a palm on Hank's cheek as he bent himself forward and captured her lips with his own.

Pulling back Hank smiled down at his lover, "And you couldn't be more right, my love." He then backed away, turning to make his way over to the ant farm he had on the counter next to one of the large windows. Pulling off the lid just a tiny bit Hank used his cybernetic helmet to mentally call upon two of the flying ants that resided within.

Then taking both their pills Hank and Janet decrease in size to become Ant Man and The Wasp. Climbing onto the top of the flying ants, Ant Man then commanded them to ascend into the air and in the direction of New Mexico where Rick Jones said the Hulk was residing.

"Hank, I don't want to question your supreme intelligence but wouldn't it be more efficient if I could use my own wings to fly?" Wasp questioned, a little behind Hank as they flew over the rooftops of New York City, too small to be noticed.

"Why waste your own energy Janet when you can have these guys do all the work for you and Rick's text message said that the Hulk's somewhere in New Mexico, which is a thousand miles from here. You're gonna need all your strength if you want to go up against someone like the Hulk, darling," Ant Man called back, telepathically commanding the ants to fly faster than they ever flown before.

"I suppose you're right, hon. You always are," Wasp said, the last part mostly to herself.

* * *

**Stark Industries, Flushings, Queens**

"Will that be everything, Mr. Stark?" A beatific voice replied on the intercom, it belonging to a certain secretary of one Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, who goes by the name "Pepper", real name Virginia Potts. She may have only started a few weeks ago but in just a few days from signing up, she had managed to memorize and organize everything she needed for the job, making Tony feel like she'd been working here for years rather than weeks.

Sitting behind his desk in his comfy leather chair, in his office, Tony Stark was enjoying his lunch break when Pepper had called in to check his schedule for this week. However, seeing as Tony was also secretly **Iron Man**, it was a simple case of "cancelling here, and moving there".

"Yes, Pepper. That'll be all," he answered back into the intercom, his forefinger pressing the talk button, "Oh, and Pepper, please call me Tony. You make me sound older than I really am whenever you say, "Mr. Stark"." He heard her chucking on her side.

"Alright Mr -- I mean Tony. I'm going to leave you to the rest of your lunch break and then we need to talk about your meeting in Munich tomorrow."

"What would I ever do without you?"

"Not a lot of anything I should imagine," she joked, practically seeing the handsome smile forming on Tony's face as he said his goodbye.

Lounging back in his chair, he was just about to put the radio on when his top-of-the-range cell-phone jerked into life and nearly threw him off it. Once he had composed himself Tony opened the text and began to read it, his eyebrows creasing as he realized that it was sent from Rick Jones. If Tony knew right, Rick was more accustomed to Bruce Banner, let alone Tony Stark. So why would he seek his help? Did he somehow know that Tony Stark is Iron Man? _No, don't be ridiculous Tony_, he laughed at himself, _How in blazes would someone like Rick found out such a secret. He'd have to have read his mind to acquire such information_. And he only knew two persons who wielded such an ability******.

Quickly throwing that notion to the back of his mind Tony set to work acquiring his latest Iron Man suit from the secret compartment hidden on the wall on the opposite side of the room. Right next to his Plasma TV and HD-DVD player. As the compartment opened up, Tony took this moment to undress until he was in his underwear. There was nothing more staggering than being in a metal suit and sweating like a pig on a scorching summer's day like today. Stepping into the red and gold suit, it automatically sealed itself tight and initiated itself online.

"Initiate manual control," Tony spoke to the suit, which did as he asked and was now able to control the suit by himself. As Tony made his way over to the balcony outside, his feet clunking loudly along the floor, he made sure everything was clear for take-off before instigating his jet boots and flying off into the sky, en route to New Mexico.

**

* * *

**

**Back somewhere in the New Mexico desert**

Rick Jones had travelled his way down the lonely highway that was built across the vast desert before suddenly turning off and heading toward the location of Bruce Banner's secret lab. He'd parked his motorbike at the bottom of the sandy hill where the cave entrance to the lab resided at its zenith. It had been half an hour, since he'd sent that text message to Johnny and still he hadn't received an answer back. Suddenly a gust of wind blew past him and he was nearly sent flying onto his hands and knees if it weren't for the fact that he was hanging onto his motorbike for dear life.

Once the wind died down enough for him to stand his ground, Rick looked up to see someone he least expected. Using the winds to stay levitated in the air, Thor, with his strong arms crossed over his heaving chest, Mjolnir fisted in one hand. He looked powerful in his form, bolts of lightning crackling around his body as though it was his aura, a true God of Lightning in any mortal's eyes. Definitely, in Rick's as he held his arm over his eyes to protect them from the intense luminosity of the lightning.

The God of Thunder eventually descends to the ground, landing softly on his feet, his arms still crossed over his chest.

"I believe thee hath summoned for me, young Rick Jones," Thor simply replied but it sounded more like he was bellowing the way his voice was amplified because of his godly prowess. The god then noticed that Rick looked rather surprised to see him, "Why so surprised? Did thee not send for me?"

At that precise moment in time, as though fate had intervened somehow, the sound of jet boots flying overhead caught their attention and they both turned to see the red-and-gold armour of Iron Man flying through the air, landing just short of them.

"_**Hello, Rick. Thor. Seems that I'm not the only one who received your message**_." Iron Man's synthetic voice replied, obviously to mask whoever it was who was wearing the suit.

Rick looked at the blond-locked hulk who was the Thunder God, then back at the red-and-golden wonder, "I hate to put a downer on you two, but my message for help wasn't for you. I sent it to the Fantastic Four, but since then, I haven't heard a word yet."

The superheroes looked at each other, both feeling just a _little _awkward that they'd both been summoned but were not needed. Just to complicate things further, two new voices were heard, somewhere behind the two heroes, seeming to get louder as they spoke.

"We've also received your message about needing help and it looks to me that you're about to get it!" A small male's voice sounded somewhere above the two legendary heroes and Rick, who were all looking around to spot where it was coming from.

Suddenly, as though from out of the air itself, two costumed characters started to grow until they'd reached their normal heights, the others recognizing them instantaneously as Ant Man and the beautiful Wasp!

Rick was left literally flabbergasted. First Thor, the God of Thunder, arrived, then Iron Man appeared shortly afterward and now Ant Man and Wasp! They were more than he could've ever hope for in helping him find and reason with the Incredible Hulk. In spite of this, Rick and the superheroes hadn't a clue in what they were about to get into as a pair of leering eyes observed this fantastic scene…

"No! This is not what I had planned! I only wanted to find a way to lure Thor back here! I have no interest in these other heroes!" Loki exclaimed, rage colouring his neck and face in an angry red, fists clenched tightly at his side. He stood up from the rock he was sitting on and pondered quickly in how to entice the Thunder God to Asgard and, thanks to his impressive intellect, thought of the perfect lure.

Using his all-seeing eyes to peer back down at the gathering of the heroes, Loki noticed that the young teenaged boy, the one they called Rick Jones, was leading them up a small dune toward a small cave at the top which supposedly led to one of Hulk's hideouts, whenever he wanted to get away from those he meant him harm.

Luckily, for the God of Mischief Thor was the last to ascend the dune and speedily conjured up a mental illusion of the Hulk bounding his way through the valley via his superhuman leaps. However, the illusion only affected Thor so only he could hear the tremors as Hulk rocked the ground with every leap.

_Strange, I thought I just heard the Hulk just now_, Thor wondered, turning around to make sure he wasn't just hallucinating. His eyes instantly spotted the green behemoth as he bounded right across the way, not even stopping to wonder why strangers were about to enter one of his sacred sanctums.

_I shan't disturb the others! If I can take him down quickly and quietly, I'll shall hath the job over and done with_. Settled on that idea, Thor swung his mighty Uru hammer, Mjolnir, and once it had gathered enough force he hurled it into the air, whilst holding onto its leather thong, enabling him to fly after the Hulk.

'_Tis also strange that he moves as though he hath not seen me…as though he's unaware of anything!_ But Thor managed to stop and descend back to the ground once he saw Hulk stopping to lift up a nearby boulder that was just as big as he was.

"I shall strike thee down before thee hath a chance to strike!" Thor's voice thundered as he threw Mjolnir at the Hulk but was aghast to find that it went straight through him, as though he'd made himself intangible. Thor knew that the Hulk had many abilities to his name but intangibility wasn't one of them. Once Thor's hammer returned to his hand, the image of Hulk disappeared into thin air, leaving the Thunder God alone to ponder.

"'Twas only an illusion, a mental trick I've seen someone perform before." Thor then looked skyward, where Asgard resided beyond the heavens, "Loki. Only he is capable of such wizardry. I should hath suspected as much."

The Thunder God then proceeded into ascending into the sky once again to return to the mystical realm of Asgard to confront the one he heavily suspected of pulling such an alluring illusion.

"Ha ah! It seems that I have succeeded in luring the Thunder God back to Asgard, but when he reaches the Isle of Silence, he shall soon find out that it will be _me _to emerge the victor!…For this time, I am ready for the coming of Thor!" Loki subsequently laughed manically, it echoing throughout the lonesome isle before returning to deathly silence as he waited.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the other heroes had followed Rick down into the small cave to find that it housed a small bed, a table and two chairs. Several candles could be seen on top of the table, apparently not been lit for quite some time. Not what you'd call a humble abode. Predictably the Hulk wasn't inside as Rick and the heroes were disappointed to find out but knew even so.

"Well, he isn't here. Oh, where could he be? I'm worried sick about him!" Rick replied with concern, sitting himself on the side of the bed and putting his head into his palms.

"_**Don't worry Rick…I'm positive that myself, Ant-Man and the Wasp will find the Hulk and learn the truth**_." Iron Man comforted the teenager, patting him gently on the back.

The Wasp, who'd grown back to her normal size like Ant-Man to make it easier for them to talk, crossed her arms, a smile on her face that seemed to light up the reasonably dark and dank grotto, "Cheer up, Rick. I'm sure Hulk's not that hard to find. I mean, how hard can it be to find a green-skinned behemoth with a short temper and a tendency to show it off with a full-on rampage?"

Ant-Man turned to his beautiful, brunette, his thinking cap on as he spoke, "Surprisingly hard, if you can imagine. By now, I reckon he's laying low, keeping himself away from towns and cities unless he _wants_ to get himself caught which I highly doubt."

Wasp placed a hand on her hip, "So? What's your plan in finding him? If he's really on a rampage, we have to stop him as soon as possible before he actually starts harming civilians but if, for some reason, he's innocent, maybe he might have some info on the real culprit and we can use that to prove his innocence."

Her boyfriend nodded. So did Iron Man, "_**You couldn't be more right, Wasp. Now, if I just scan the local vicinity, maybe I can get a fix on where he might be hiding or where he's going**_," he replied, tapping the buttons on one of his gloves as he did. As the others looked on, they noticed that once he'd finished, Iron Man's eyes shone bright yellow, notifying everyone that he was now in "Scanning Mode".

As Ant-Man and Wasp took a seat at the table to wait for Iron Man's scanning to complete, Rick looked around and noticed that one of them was missing, "Hey, where's Thor? I thought he was right behind us?"

The two heroes looked around and saw that the teen was right, the Thunder God was no-where to be seen. The Wasp smiled, huffed, then waved off the worry, "Don't worry about big, strong and blond, Rick. Thor has a penchant for disappearing when no-one's looking. He'll be back before you know it."

Just then their attention was averted back to Iron Man, who'd finished his scanning and was heading for the entrance, "_**Come on guys. I've got a lock on the Hulk. It seems like he's on the move again, heading towards an abandoned military base about 15 miles due east**_."

"Rick, stay here. We don't want you getting involved, you might get hurt," the Wasp replied, concern obvious as she followed Ant-Man and Iron Man out of the cave. Rick answered her with a sigh, "Alright."

Once outside, the two lovers shrunk down to insect size and followed after Iron Man, Wasp via her wings and Ant-Man via an ant he'd called for aid telepathically, thanks to his cybernetic helmet.

**

* * *

**

**15 Miles Due East**

Whilst the newly gathered heroes were on pursuit of the green behemoth, the Hulk was taking refuge in an old, abandoned military base that probably hadn't seen the light of day since the early '60s. As he treaded his way through the empty building, his feet crushing the very ground beneath him, he felt a great deal of tranquillity overload his mind, and suddenly felt strange.

Within an instant the Hulk reverted back to his human form in a flash of green light, one Dr. Bruce Banner, who looked around and was puzzled by his current whereabouts.

"Wha-what? Where…am I?" Bruce asked himself, placing a hand on his head as a headache was coming along, "My head…can't stop banging," and then he collapsed in a heap, unconscious to the world.

As they approached Hulk's position after flying over constant desert and mountainous regions, the three heroes descend, Ant-Man and the Wasp returning to normal size once they touched ground. Iron Man's eyes flashed yellow again, scanning the vicinity for the green giant but came out empty-handed.

"_**Strange? The Hulk's reading seems to have just…vanished but I'm still picking up someone in the abandoned military base. Guess we'll have to check it out. He or she might have some info on the whereabouts of the Hulk**_." Iron Man deduced, pointing in the direction of the base, just noticeable in the distance, located at the bottom of a small canyon.

"The sooner we do, the sooner we can finish this and I can have a shower. I'm sweating buckets in this heat," Wasp moaned as she followed the two heroes in its direction…

What felt like hours was only a few minutes as Bruce Banner awoke from unconscious, moaning at the headache that was pounding inside his head, "Ooh, what…what happened?" His eyes inspected the area before noticing that he was in fact half-naked and his trousers were torn to shreds.

"Oh…oh no! Not again, not again with the Hulk!" Bruce exclaimed, taking deep breaths so as not to excite himself and turn back into the Hulk. "What has he done now? Destroyed this military base?"

His questioning himself was interrupted by what sounded like rockets jetting across the sky. He clambered to his feet, with the help of a nearby collapsed wall, and faced in the direction of where the sounds were coming from.

He was just in time to see a red-and-gold armoured man touch down while two others increase their size to their normal height. The man was wearing a dark crimson costume with a silver helmet on his head while the woman was wearing all black except for several patterns which were coloured yellow. Bruce did notice that she had wings but they disappeared once she'd reached her height.

"That must be Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp," Bruce told himself, keeping himself well hidden in the shadows, "But what are they doing here? Are they after the Hulk? If so, I dread to think what he's done to attract their attention."

Back outside Iron Man took a few steps forward, "_**They're here somewhere. Just give me a minute to scan the area, and we'll know exactly where**_." His eyes once again glow and within a matter of seconds found who they were looking for, "_**Please, come out. We mean you no harm whatsoever. We're just here to ask you some questions that you might be able to answer**_." He called out with his hands out in front of him in a peaceful gesture. Ant-Man and Wasp stayed where they were, both not really sure who to expect if it wasn't the Hulk.

Bruce leant up against the wall, heart pounding fast once again but trying to calm it with deep, soothing breaths, but it didn't seem to be working, "No! No, please God don't change. They're just here to help."

Those were the only words Bruce heard before the Hulk's rage overtook him; transforming him back into the green behemoth of destruction. A creature so full of rage and with unimaginable strength. Once the transformation had finished, the Hulk let out a tremendous roar, causing the very building, and canyon, to shake violently.

Ant-Man and the Wasp steadied their feet so as not to fall over, "Sounds like we've found the Hulk, darling," Wasp uttered as she immediately shrunk to insect size, her translucent wings fluttering at a million times a second.

Iron Man jetted back to join the duo via his rocket boots, "_**And he's sounds awful mad. I guess reasoning with him's out of the question**_," he replied, the palms of his hands glowing with cerulean light, readying himself for anything.

The ground then started to tremble with the Hulk's every step, making the other heroes feel like as though the Earth was going to open up and swallow them whole. When he stepped into the light for the trio to see, they were amazed by the sheer size of him. They'd read reports, seen glimpses of him on the news reports but were always out of focus, not defining how tall he was. Now it made them all feel extremely small, especially Ant-Man and Wasp, who was already in her shrunken size.

"HULK JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" He roared, large green hands tensed into fists, eyes wide with fury at the colourful interlopers.

Ant-Man took a step forward, in an attempt to try and calm the green giant down, "Please, Hulk. We mean you no harm," he replied while gesturing at himself and then Iron Man and Wasp, "We just want to talk. Figure out what's going on with you." His voice was calm, non-threatening but it didn't seem to have pacified Hulk's rage.

Nonetheless, the green behemoth didn't seem to realize that, as Ant-Man continued to talk with him, underneath where Hulk's standing, he was telepathically commanding a legion of ants to burrow the ground so as to weaken it and cause a cave in, trapping the towering brute.

"HULK NOT WANT TALK! HULK WILL SMASH YOU ALL IF YOU DON'T LEAVE NOW!"

"Well, can't say that we didn't try," Ant-Man sighed, hands on his hips as just at that moment, the ground beneath the Hulk collapsed and he fell into the tight crevice, created by Ant-Man's ants. "That should hold him." Ant-Man uttered but was disrupted by the sound of a tremor?

Suddenly, the ground collapsed from underneath them. Iron Man hovered in the air via his jet-boots while Ant-Man shrunk to insect size and mentally commanded two flying ants to his aid. The trio of heroes glanced at the source of the tremor and found that it was the Hulk, using his immense strength, to escape from the confined space he'd been put in by Ant-Man's ants' tunnelling.

The Hulk landed on the ground, fists tightly clenched, causing another shake, and roaring his anger at the three heroes who were now trying his patience.

Promptly Iron Man calls out an order, "_**Everyone in the offensive! If we can somehow overpower or disorientate him, we may have a chance at finding his disadvantage**_!"

With that said, the two others nodded their heads in agreement before Wasp flew, wings flickering fast, towards the almighty Hulk, swiftly dodging his punches with aerial dexterity. When she was close to the Hulk's head, Wasp started firing off several of her "wasp's stings" from her hands, the electrical force bursts hitting the green giant on several places on his face, including his eyes.

This caused Hulk's vision to go blurry and leaving him temporarily blind, swiping at nothing but air. This gave Iron Man time to gain momentum and use his own armour's super-strength against the Hulk, spearing the green behemoth through one of many collapsed brick walls. He advanced through a few more, actually causing what was left of the roof in one of the rooms to collapse, before Hulk grabbed Iron Man by the shoulders and stopped him in his tracks.

Iron Man's strength couldn't compare to that of Hulk's as he fought with every ounce of it in order to keep the Hulk contained but he proved too much, overpowering him and punching him back through a clear set of walls, before becoming embedded in the wall of the canyon.

The thundering footsteps were back, stepping out of the hole Iron Man had created when Hulk had punched him through it, and let out an almighty roar, "NO ONE CAN STOP HULK!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the grand chamber of the Imperial Palace in Asgard, Thor was kneeling in the presence of his father, Odin, King of the Norse Gods, who stood impressively in front of his throne with Gungnir, his three-pronged spear made of Uru, in both hands.

"Noble Odin, Lord of the Gods!" Thor started, his powerful voice seeming to resonate around the great room, "Grant thy son permission to visit Loki in the Isle of Silence, so that I may learn if he is truly responsible for some deviltry back on Midgard!"

The Almighty All-Father stared at his son with piercing eyes for what felt like an eternity to Thor until he received his answer, "I shall grant thee permission, my beloved son, but hark to these words; Though you be the son of my heart…Loki too is my son! I cannot interfere with what transpires between the two of you!"

Thor nodded in agreement, standing to his feet, "I understand, father." He then bared a second to bow before turning on his heels and leaving the room, with his Father's eyes watching him as he left, his mind wondering what Loki had in store for Thor this time…

And so, the Thunder God set sail across the Sea of Mist, fully aware that the enemy he seeks is also a legendary God…and the most sinister, if not the most dangerous of all. _Loki must know that I am coming,_ Thor thought as he paddled across the lonely sea, _Knowing him he'd have set traps for me but alas, I must not turn back…no matter what the risk!_

Once he'd reached the shores of the Isle of Silence, Thor stepped off the boat and strolled onward to find Loki. However, he only managed to take a couple of steps when suddenly great, thick roots erupted from underneath the very ground. The roots were quick, almost overwhelming the Thunder God in an intent to squeeze the very life out of him when Thor started to swing his almighty hammer over his head.

The faster he swung, the quicker it was to chop down the roots until they were no longer a threat, "Loki will hath to do better than that to hinder me!" Thor replied, his palm clenching Mjolnir ever so tightly as he continued onward on his search for the God of Mischief.

He didn't need to look far because Loki was standing with his head held high, hands on his hips, at the edge of the forest with an evil grin on his face, "So you have finally made it to my humble home, my dear _brother_! However, I'm deeply sorry to say that this is also where you'll stay for eternity, as a rotting corpse!" Loki bellowed, his voice seeming to resonate across the small isle.

Thor pointed his Uru hammer at Loki, which was tightly clenched in his palm, "You were expecting me, Loki! Which means you have committed some foul deed, knowing that I'd come to avenge it!" Thor's voice bellowed just as loudly as Loki's, taking a few steps towards him before Loki outstretched a hand, which emanated a pink glow, Thor suddenly finding himself unable to move, "Stop, accursed brother! Has it slipped your mind the name of this isle…and the ones for whom it was named?"

Abruptly, a mighty hand with thin, long fingers and sharp claws grabbed the Thunder God by his ankle, immobilizing him on the spot as it crawled itself out from the very ground. Seeing as the creature had Thor in its tight grip, Loki ceased his hold on him and watched as the horrifically disfigured beast then held Thor in a robust bear-hug.

"He, like the others beneath the very ground, are the Silent Ones! The natural enemies of the Gods…the Trolls!"

The pink-skinned 8-foot Troll proceeded in crushing the life out of Thor, who had only mere seconds to think of a way out before his fate was sealed in doom. With Mjolnir still in his grasp, Thor looked up into the sky and summoned a powerful strike of lightning to electrify himself as well as the Troll, knowing full well that the attack would not harm him.

The horrid creature howled out in pain as the strike caused it to let go of Thor and stumble back a few steps, trying to find its balance. With not a moment to lose Thor held Mjolnir with both hands and, whilst electrifying it, holds it back before swinging it with all his strength forward, it connecting with the Troll's irregular chin.

With the help of his superhuman strength, Thor had "batted" the Troll backward into the air, its screaming gradually fading as it vanished into the distance, leaving Loki once again alone with the Thunder God.

"Now that the Troll hath been dealt with, it is time for thee to taste the awesome vengeance of Thor!" He exclaimed, swinging the Uru hammer overhead before hurling it fast at the unsuspected God of Mischief.

However Loki, with the speed of thought, erected a impenetrable force-field that successfully deflects the mighty hammer, which flew back into the hand of Thor, "You haven't defeated me yet, Thor!" Loki replied, letting out a smarmy laugh as the force-field disappeared into thin air.

"I have only just began, Loki!" Thor then sprinted forward, Mjolnir held overhead once again, as he was intent in striking Loki like he'd done only moments ago with the Troll. Nevertheless, as soon as Thor swung the hammer at Loki's torso, it travelled right through it, as though it was intangible.

"Agh! Another illusion! I am getting rather tired of your tiresome tricks, Loki!" Thor announced, only to turn around and find several other Loki's standing before him, one obviously being the real God while the others were all his irksome illusions.

"It'll take more than that to save thee from me, Loki! Although I possess no ability to sense which illusion is the real one, my hammer shall solve that problem for me!" Thor subsequently started to spin Mjolnir out in front of him, instead of overhead, like a giant propeller, until all of the illusions had dissipated except for the real Loki, who stood with his arms crossed, only slightly impressed by the Thunder God's effort.

"My turn." Loki, God of Evil, grinned devilishly, emitting a powerful blast of red, concussive energy from his hands, only for Thor to soar into the air in the nick of time before he could be struck by it. He then whirled the hammer overhead and tossed it in Loki's direction, only for Loki to deflect it with another force-field.

Catching the hammer in his hand, Thor knelt straight the way and lingered Mjolnir above the ground, it starting to hum as it soaked up the magnetic currents that gave life to the Trolls below. Once it had absorbed enough magnetic energy, Thor stood to his feet and extended his arm, allowing Mjolnir to magnetically pull Loki toward him.

"What?! What are you doing? NOO!" Loki cried out, not able to evade Mjolnir's powerful magnetic pull. He stuck to it like flies to flypaper as Thor triumphantly lifted him into the air in a winning gesture.

"I hath thee now, Loki, and thee hath much to atone for!"

"Wait! Stop! Where are you taking me? What are you going to do?" Loki asked frantically, struggling to pry himself off of Mjolnir but finding that it was no use.

"With our father Odin's permission, I shall bring thee to Midgard! There, thee will find others who are waiting for thee…others almost as powerful as I!" Thor stated, prying Loki off Mjolnir and holding him tightly with one arm, he proceeded in swinging the hammer overhead until a blustering vortex consumed the both of them and teleported them back to Earth…

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the trio of heroes weren't faring too well with their fight with the incredibly strong Hulk. Wasp was just about to charge at the Hulk and bombard him with another batch of bio-electric blasts when he claps his large hands together, catching her in his "thunder-clap", propelling the Wasp backwards into one of the collapsible brick walls. She plummeted to the floor soon afterward, unconscious.

"Wasp!" Ant-Man cried out, flying out to her via his flying ants. Landing next to her unconscious body, Ant-Man jumped off the insects and ran to her, kneeling by her side. He then pulled her into his arms and coaxed her gently from her unconsciousness, the back of his hand stroking her cheek, "Come on Janet, my love. Wake up. He didn't hit you that hard," he whispered softly, fighting back the tears as he looked upon the love of his life.

Slowly Janet's eyes started to blink slowly, eventually opening to see her boyfriend's eyes looking into hers, "Hank? What happened --," then a sudden rush of pain hit the back of her head, "Ooh, don't answer that, sweetie. I think I already know."

"Are you alright to move, my love?" Hank asked with concern, cupping his girlfriend into his arms, bridal-style.

Janet rubbed the back of her head, as though it might relieve some of the pain that was throbbing there, "I'm fine, darling, really I am." To show him that she was, Janet fluttered out of his arms and into the air, ready to get back in the game, "See…now let's go. Iron Man needs us."

And need them Iron Man did as he flew around Hulk to avoid being crushed in those massive arms. Once he had good distance between himself and the Hulk, Iron Man discharged several "pulse bolts"; concussive force blasts that pick up kinetic energy along the way, so that they hit their target harder the further they are away from them.

It did exactly what it said on the tin. As soon as they struck the Hulk, it launched him across the canyon, feeling to him like he'd just been hit by several anti-tank missiles, before he smashed into the rocky wall like Iron Man had done moments ago.

He'd had enough of this. Enough of people and heroes hunting him down, hounding him, for just being who he is. He couldn't help the fact that he wields so much strength that it caused destruction everywhere he went.

So, as he climbed out from the hole he'd just created, Hulk was not holding back. He was going to take down these "hunters" even if he brought the entire canyon on top of them. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a blond man with a red cape, with someone wrapped around his arm as he landed in between the Hulk and the heroes.

"Halt! Thee hath no reason to fight!" The blond man called out, as he placed the man, who Hulk and the heroes could see wore a dark green and yellow costume with a pair of long horns protruding from his yellow cowl, on the ground, a hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. "This, everyone, is Loki, God of Evil, and he was the mastermind behind this entire ordeal! It was he who planned the train wreck, and it was he who arranged for the Hulk to be blamed…so I could reveal myself in order to trap me!" Thor explained Loki's dastardly plan to them all, as they gathered around the defeated Norse God.

"Loki? You got Hulk into mess? THEN HULK SMASH!" Hulk bellowed, ready to punch Loki into the next state but before he could even move, Loki extended his arms out in front of him before discharging a beam of magical energy that halted him on the spot, "Halt, foolish mortal! No-one may lay a hand on Loki!

With one hand aimed at Hulk, the other zapped at the other heroes, only managing to hold Thor and Iron Man, Ant-Man and Wasp already in their shrunken forms and now flying around the God of Evil. While Wasp was blasting him with her 'wasp's stings', Ant-Man was telepathically commanding his ants and other flying insects in the vicinity to fly around Loki's head, causing him to lose his concentration as he tried desperately to wave them away.

"Uh! Uh! Get them away! Get these pests away from me!"

"Let Hulk help!" The green behemoth replied, charging forward and punching Loki square in the chest, hurling him into the demolished military base. Thanks to Loki's enhanced durability, Hulk's punch didn't harm him but caused him to lose consciousness.

With Loki subdued, the heroes turn to each other to congratulate on a mission well done before returning to their homes to rest after a gruelling day and Thor taking Loki back to where he belonged.

"Wait! Before we separate, Wasp and I have something that we'd like to say!" cried Ant-Man, who'd returned to his normal size like the Wasp, before she took over from him, "Each of us have different powers, different strengths, right? Well, if we were to combine our forces, we could become almost unbeatable, am I right?" Wasp asked to them all whilst using Ant-Man's shoulder as an armrest.

The other three heroes looked at each other, contemplating on their idea, Iron Man suddenly answering enthusiastically, "_Have us working as a team? Why not? I'm certainly in!_"

"I agree," proclaimed Thor, "There is much good we can do!"

Nonetheless, Hulk wasn't as in enthusiastic as the others were about this idea, "Hulk not like bug lady's idea. Hulk works better alone!" And with that short statement said, Hulk bent his knees and leapt into the air, disappearing from their sight in just one jump.

"_**Hulk may be a problem for us in the near future but we can all worry about it when the time comes. So, Wasp, what are we calling ourselves**?_" Iron Man enquired, all turning to the plucky heroine for their answer.

"Well, I was thinking that it's got to be colourful…and dramatic like…The Avengers?" Her questioning brow was soon answered by the sound of cheers and smiles, "That's it, Wasp!" Ant-Man beamed, "We'll be called The Avengers!" He then stretched out his hand, waiting for the others to place theirs on top of his, the Wasp doing so in a matter of seconds.

Iron Man placed his on top of hers as he responded, "_**We'll fight together or separately, if need be**!_"

Afterward Thor stepped forward and place his on top of Iron Man's, completing the ensemble that was the Avengers, "We shall never be beaten! For we are…"

They all joined in and shouted together, "**THE AVENGERS**!"

* * *

And thus is born one of the greatest super-hero teams of all time! Each blessed with sufficient powers, The Avengers will bring truth and justice to those who dare to oppose it and them!

**The End of Issue 1**


	3. The Avengers Vs The Hulk & SubMariner!

**Author's Note:** Just like to mention that, even though I forgot to mention it in Issue 1, the Wasp's in fact wearing a mask to conceal her identity as they don't know each other's identities except for the Wasp and Giant-Man. Just like to point that out if anyone had noticed. Okay, now that's sorted, I let you get back to reading and please review. I like to read what you think! Chow for now! b(^-^)d**

* * *

**

**Issue 2**

**721 Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York**

In one of the two subbasements built underneath one of many townhouses belonging to Tony Stark, the man himself, guised as Iron Man, was tapping furiously away at the keyboard to the main console. His sole objective: to find the Incredible Hulk.

A few days ago, after dealing with a revenge-hungry Loki, Thor's foster brother and Asgardian God of Evil and Mischief, literally (see _last issue_), Iron Man got to work on upgrading his computer he had installed down there, along with various other machines and gadgets that had other uses, in order for them to locate the Hulk's current position.

When they'd tussled, Iron Man's armour detected small amounts of gamma radiation secreting from the Hulk's body, and was using that now to help him track down the green behemoth. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side as he hadn't yet acquired no leads.

Before his fellow Avenger even entered the room, his armour's senses intuited the overwhelming presence of the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor, who stood beside him at the console, his muscular body casting a shadow upon it.

"_**Hello Thor, swift as always I see. Did you happen to see Giant-Man and Wasp on your travels?**__"_ Iron Man asked, eyes fixed on the screen as he continued to search for the Hulk, now in the Nevada desert area.

Thor, with Mjolnir's thong wrapped around his wrist, shook his head, "Nay, friend and nor hath I seen the Hulk on my way here from Asgard. 'Tis like he hath vanished from the face of Midgard."

Midgard, in Asgardian tongue, meant Earth, and the God of Thunder wasn't wrong there. Even with today's high-tech technology, Iron Man couldn't get an exact location on Hulk, but he felt like he couldn't give up…he wouldn't. To Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk was dangerous, he was a threat that needed to be contained before he caused something catastrophic.

Rapidly, Iron Man's armour sensed two more presences entering the room and, looking to face the door, the two heroes saw Ant-Man, who was now calling himself **Giant-Man** and wearing a new costume that was similar to his old one but with several differences, and the Wasp entering the room, though she was still wearing her previous costume she'd worn when they first tussled with the Hulk.

"_**Glad you two could finally join us. I called you about half an hour ago. What took you two so long anyway?**_ Iron Man enquired inquisitively, his attention once again back on the screen, his fingertips tapping furiously on the keyboard, now trying a different tactic in finding the Hulk's whereabouts.

Giant-Man took a seat at the large, round table, and beamed brightly, "We were both indulged in my latest experiment to allow myself to grow to great heights, if you must know Iron Man." The Wasp also joined him at the table, taking the seat directly opposite to him, one leg over the other.

"Any hits yet, Iron Man?" She asked, resting on her palm, watching the iron-clad Avenger working energetically at the console with Thor watching by his side.

"_**Nothing solid yet, Wasp. I keep getting small traces here and there but not enough to pinpoint his actual location**_."

The Wasp stood up from her chair, left arm wrapped around her waist while the other was pointing its forefinger to the ceiling, an idea having just popped into her head, "Have you checked with Rick Jones? He's the Hulk's closest chum, right? Maybe he knows where the big guy is?"

"_**Already have**_," Iron Man uttered, his fingertips having stopped tapping on the keyboard, watching the computer screen as the crosshair danced all over it in its search for any signs of the Hulk, "_**Says he hasn't seen the Hulk since we last tussled with him and that he's going to help us search for him in his old "stomping grounds"…He'll notify us if he finds anything useful**_."

Fortunately, the quartet of heroes didn't have to wait long for the results as the console's screen start bleeping red, Iron Man leaning forward to get a closer look to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"_**Got him. It's only a small trace, but he's somewhere in the Grand Canyon. The computer's picking up small traces of gamma radiation in the area and for the moment, it doesn't seem like he's planning to move. Probably found himself a safe place to hide. We'll need to get there fast if we want any chance of taking him down swiftly**_."

Thor's ears perked at the last sentence and gave his fellow team-mates a smile that could blind anyone in its path, "Then look no farther for with Mjolnir," he held it up for all to see, "I can get thee there in a moment's breath."

Giant-Man suddenly perked up, "Well that's a blessed relief, Thor! Now I can test my newly-enhanced size-shifting powers as "Giant-Man" against the Hulk!" He stood up from his chair, a big smile on his face as he joined the others in front of the console.

"_**I shall notify Rick that we've found the Hulk once we get there. Thor, when you're ready**_." Iron Man informed, making a last-minute check on his armour, which replied with positive feedback in its synthesized, masculine voice before Thor started swinging the mighty Mjolnir above his head, lightning and energy crackling and dancing around them.

Subsequently, as Thor swirled Mjolnir, the energies surrounded them and before they could even blink, a flash of light illuminated the entire room and when it was gone so were the Avengers…

* * *

**The Grand Canyon, Arizona**

As soon as they teleported away from their current H.Q. in New York City via Thor's Mjolnir, they arrived at their destination mere moments later, appearing out of nowhere in a flash of bright light. As soon as they'd touched ground, everyone felt queasy. Giant-Man thought he was going to vomit right on Wasp's boots, but thankfully he didn't because if he did, he'd surely know about it.

After the nausea passed, Iron Man contacted Rick's cell via the PAN interconnect in his helmet, notifying him that they'd located the Hulk somewhere in the Grand Canyon and were now on pursuit. Once he'd hung up, he was back in "leader" mode, "_**Alright, Avengers…we'll fan out to cover more ground. The faster we find the Hulk, the less damage he's gonna cause to his surrounding environment. Take these as well. They'll help us to communicate with each other if we're at a distance.**_" He added, passing to his fellow team-mates small earpieces which they fixed inside one ear. Wasp had to help Thor out with his, the mighty Thunder God still not accustomed to humanity's ultra-modern technology.

Once they all agreed on Iron Man's plan, they each picked a direction to search in; Iron Man, Thor and the Wasp took to the skies going North, South and West, while Giant-Man tested out his additional power to grow to 20ft, the earth trembling, his large feet creating small craters as he stomped in an eastward direction.

As he flew through the air, his rocket thrusters roaring behind him, Iron Man didn't see it coming…even his armour's senses didn't see it coming until it was too late. The Incredible Hulk had managed to get the drop on him, jumping up from behind a small precipice big enough to hide him, as he used his massive arms to wrap himself around Iron Man's body in a tight bear-hug. Using the momentum of their immediate descent, Hulk speared Iron Man hard into the ground, creating a small crater beneath them. If it wasn't for his near-invulnerable armour, Tony knew his body would've been crushed into mush, literally. He also knew that he had to get the Hulk off of him or he'd soon become mush.

With a quick press of a button on one of his gauntlets, he switched its setting to manipulate magnetism, aiming them at the Hulk before unleashing a powerful enough blast to send him flying across the way, smashing into the nearby cliff wall. It wasn't enough to stagger the Hulk, but it gave Iron Man the time to climb to his feet and recuperate from the previous attack.

"_**Hulk**_!" Iron Man called out, taking a breath before continuing, "_**We don't have to fight each other. Just let me talk to you!**_" He knew it was a long shot, but he at least had to try and reason with the green giant.

Unfortunately, the Hulk wasn't in the mood to just sit down and talk, "DON'T WANT TALK! HULK JUST WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE!" Climbing out from his encasement in the cliff wall, he knelt down, dug his fingers into the hard, dusty earth and lifted a segment of it into the air. His intentions with it fairly obvious. To Iron Man, it looked to be the size of a normal pick-up truck, and he didn't want to take another hit like the one just seconds before.

So, setting his gauntlets to discharge repulsor rays, Iron Man was just in time to see Hulk bringing his arms back for added impetus, before using his immense strength to hurl it in his direction. With his quick reflexes, the Avenger raised his gauntlets again and released the repulsors in a wide-field dispersal, successfully shattering the rock into tiny pieces which rained down upon the two.

"_**Listen to me Hulk! Why don't you stop fighting and let me talk to you!**_" Iron Man tried to reason with him again, but the Hulk still wasn't having none of it and now his patience was growing incredibly thin.

"NO! HULK SMASH!" With tightly clenched fists, the Hulk lifted them high into the air before slamming them back down to the ground, sending a massive tremor that managed to knock Iron Man off his feet, landing in a heap on the floor.

Wasting no time, Hulk leaped into the air, ready to crush his pursuer with his very feet when a giant hand grabbed him from mid-air. It was Giant-Man, who coiled his enormous fingers around the Hulk in an attempt to keep him immobile, much like a snake when it seized its prey. Nevertheless, even Giant-Man's enhanced strength couldn't keep the Hulk at bay for long.

Pushing outwards, the Hulk managed to pry open the fingers that bind him, and released a loud roar before leaping up to Giant-Man's face and punching it with a right hook to the jaw. The gargantuan Avenger let out a pained grunt as he fell backward, landing with an almighty boom that rocked the very Earth beneath him.

Just as speedily, the Wasp entered the fray, her high-pitched war-cry escaping her lips as she'd witnessed Hulk's brutal attack on her boyfriend. Zooming straight for the Hulk's head, she fired a bio-electric blast straight into both eyes, the same attack she'd used before on their first mission as "Avengers". And like before, her tactic proved to be effective, temporarily blinding the Hulk and forcing him to cover his eyes with one arm whilst swinging at her with the other.

However, thanks to Hank's training regime when they were just "Ant-Man and the Wasp", the tiny heroine managed to elude the Hulk's swings, angling her body left and right as she released another blast, this time hitting him on the side of the head, the attack disorienting him for a few more seconds.

Having heard enough of the buzzing around his head, Hulk pulled his arms back and just as quickly clapped them together, the shockwave from such an powerful attack propelling Wasp across the air, her screams silenced once she hit the cliff wall, which knocked her unconscious.

"Halt thy attack, Green Goliath or suffer the wrath of Thor!" The Thunder God's voice boomed as he descended from the sky, Mjolnir clenched tightly in his hand, his cape flowing vigorously, lightning and energy crackled in the air around him.

Nevertheless, the Hulk wasn't intimidated in the slightest by the mighty god's entrance. Instead, he clenched one of his fists and charged, the anger in his eyes, his rage pulsating in his veins. Before Thor even knew it, Hulk retaliated with a haymaker right to the god's stomach with such tremendous strength and speed that it hurled his hovering opponent backward at an alarming velocity. Thor's body skimmed across the ground a couple of times, creating large potholes, before crashing through the cliff wall on the opposite side of the canyon.

"YOU CAN'T SCARE HULK! I STRONGER THAN YOU, YELLOW HAIR!" The Hulk bellowed, releasing an almighty roar that appeared to make even the heavens tremble by its ferocity.

By now, the other Avengers were now regaining consciousness (Iron Man, Giant-Man and Wasp) and watched as the Hulk pumped his arms in triumph. Suddenly the hole that Thor's body had created when he'd crashed through it, began to glow brightly in a light-blue colour. The other heroes knew that this was the colour of Thor's lightning.

Thor appeared from within the hole, his skin and outfit slightly dotted with dust, his cape slightly ripped at it edges, an incensed look on the Thunder God's face as he hollered back, "You dare strike the son of Odin!" He then hovered back into the air, and flew in the Hulk's direction near enough at the speed of light with the aid of Mjolnir.

As he neared the Green Goliath, he held the weapon back as far as humanly possible and, when the timing was just right, he swung it underarm like in an uppercut kind of motion, hitting the Hulk right under the chin, batting him high into the sky. The colossal hit knocked the Hulk for six, assaulting his senses and preventing him to recover from such an awesome attack.

A mile or so later, he struck the ground like an asteroid, forming a substantial hole big enough to fit half a football stadium, maybe more, and the shockwave afterward caused the very cliffs nearby to shake, threatening to collapse on top of him, but fortunately they didn't.

Back with the Avengers, Thor was helping Iron Man to his feet whilst Wasp was attending to her boyfriend, softly caressing his cheek, hoping it was enough to wake him. Luckily it did, the "giant" avenger blinking his eyes open, the quick action helping him to focus on the woman that was looking over him.

"Hank? Hank, are you okay?" She asked anxiously, her apprehension disappearing once he was smiling back at her.

"Never better darling, but I feel like I've been hit by a juggernaut." He uttered whilst rubbing his chin where Hulk had punched him just moments ago, as though that might help soothe it, if only a little. A few feet away, Iron Man began to speak, their attention on him as well as Thor's.

"_**I don't think that attack will hinder the Hulk for long, Thor, but it'll give us some time to plan our next move.**_" Iron Man pronounced, his highly-intellectual mind already trying to find a solution to their problem. A few moments later, Giant-Man's voice interrupted, "Well, you better think of it fast because I think he's coming back for more!" And he couldn't have been more right. Stood atop the cliff behind them, the Hulk seemed madder than ever as he let out an almighty roar, that must of echoed for miles around.

"_**Ready yourselves, Avengers. I don't think this fight's quite over yet**_," Iron Man informed the team, as they all turned to face the Hulk; Wasp returning to her shrunken size, Giant-Man growing an extra 5 feet, Iron Man setting his repulsors to maximum power whilst Thor hovered a little into the air, his eyes and body crackling with lightning.

Strangely, the Hulk didn't advance on his attack. Instead, he bent his knees as far as they could, and leaped into the air. In one single bound, he cleared over the Avengers and reached halfway across the canyon before his feet touched the ground, launching himself into the air once again. Soon, he would be long gone.

"Shouldn't we be perhaps, I don't know, going after him? He _is _getting away after all," Giant-Man asked, returning to his normal height. Wasp did the same a few seconds later.

Iron Man shook his head in defeat, "_**No Giant-Man. We'll let him go…for now. Besides, during the fight, I managed to pin a tracking device on his lower back, so it's not like we won't know where he's heading. Also, I'm getting the feeling that every time we fight the Hulk, we're only making him angrier, thus making him a lot stronger. So we'll need to think up another strategy, but first we need to rest and regain our strength**_." He then turned to Thor, who was standing quite proudly, his arms crossed over his chest, gazing in the direction that Hulk had bounded in. Although the others had several bumps and bruises, Iron Man's armour slightly dented from Hulk's physical assault, Thor on the other hand didn't have a scratch on him. His cape was somewhat torn at the edges and he was covered in dust from his scuffle with the Green Giant, but other than that he seemed perfectly fine.

"Thor? Thor, are you okay?" The Wasp asked with evident concern in her voice, walking up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder to gently coax him out of his pondering.

The Thunder God turned his head to face her, his lips forming a somewhat jovial smile, a feat the Wasp had come to suspect that Thor was trying to hide something, "I am fine, Wasp. 'Tis something on thy mind, that's all. Nothing to worry thine self with." He then joined the others, readying himself to teleport them back to New York City to convalesce from Hulk's vicious assault and plan their next move.

Wasp, however, wasn't convinced by his answer, but followed nevertheless, telling herself that she won't pressure the issue.

* * *

**A beach on the Atlantic side of Florida**

The Hulk didn't know how long he had been bounding for in this particular direction, but when he finally stopped when he knew he was far enough away from the Avengers, he found himself at the coast, looking down at the sky-blue sea and finally feeling calm, collected.

Sitting himself down upon the sandy shores, clearing disregarding the crowds of people who'd come down to enjoy a nice sunny day at the beach, running and screaming things like, "Agh! It's the Hulk!" and "Let's get out of here before he kills us all!"

That last cry hurt him. Why did people think that all he did all day was cause destruction and wanting to hurt people? It wasn't his fault that he was blessed with incredible strength and invulnerability. That most of the villains he'd faced liked to throw him about like a rag-doll because of that fact and that he answered them with the same treatment, but it was always him that ended up getting the blame. Therefore being hated more and more.

He was getting sick of it. Sick of all the blame, the hatred toward him, the hounding and the hunting. Maybe he should pack up this superhero lark and become a villain instead. Heck, most of America, and probably the world, thought of him as a villain so why shouldn't he be one?

As he was too busy thinking to himself, the Hulk didn't even know that he was about to have company. Company in the form of Prince Namor, who walked proudly from out of the very sea, garbed in nothing but a pair of green trunks that were made from an unknown material, bordered with a gold belt. He had nothing on his feet, but protruding from both ankles were small, white-feathered wings which were clearly not big enough to be used for flight…surely.

"I am Namor," The Atlantean introduced proudly, his hands firmly on his hips as he continued, "And it would be wise in your behalf to look at me when I'm speaking to you!" His voice angrier by the time he'd finished.

Hulk didn't stir, didn't even look Namor's way. He didn't want to listen, was sick of listening to people either bad-mouthing him or trying to "help" him, whatever that meant. He just looked out into the horizon, knees near enough to his chest, his arms resting upon them as he watched the salt glittering on the surface of the sea from the effect of the Sun's intense light.

Namor's grey-blue eyes narrowed, face flushed an angry-red at the ignorance of this _creature_ that was clearly not all human, pointing at him as he shouted furiously, "How dare you ignore the Prince of Atlantis! I have the right mind to teach you some manners when in the presence of royalty!"

Namor went to strike at the Hulk, but was blocked when the behemoth caught it in mid-air, his giant green hand wrapped around Namor's wrist before tossing it aside _lightly_, causing the Prince to double back, having to dig his heels into the sand to stop him from moving further.

_This creature, whatever it might be, is just as strong as me. Maybe even more, but strength isn't the only weapon I wield, _Namor pondered as he approached the Hulk once again, "Now you dare lay a hand on my royal personage? Now I have no choice, but to teach you a lesson!"

Hulk had had enough by now, sick of hearing the _Prince_ going on about his so-called royal status. He just wanted to be left alone. Why couldn't anyone understand that without trying to take him on.

Hulk stood up then, facing Namor and catching his wrist again when the Prince tried for the same move twice, before swinging him around, arm fixed tightly behind his back and Hulk's free arm wrapped securely around Namor's neck, holding him in a tight embrace.

"HULK DON'T CARE! HULK JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE! SICK OF PUNY HUMANS HOUNDING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He roared into Namor's ears who scoffed and started to struggle out of Hulk's hold on him.

"Brainless green oaf! You still think you're dealing with a "puny human"? Well, we shall soon see!" He then reached up to grab Hulk's arm that was tightly swathed around his neck, and flipped him over judo-style, with the benefit of his immense strength.

The Hulk landed with an almighty thump on the sand, but it didn't fall him for long as he was back on his feet and roaring in sheer anger. He charged at Namor, taking him by surprise, his hand swathed around the monarch's neck, choke-slamming him to the ground, pinning him there.

"LITTLE MAN TALK TOO MUCH! HULK WILL SHUT YOU UP!" Hulk continued to tighten his grip, drawing the very breath away from Namor, who needed to think of something quick before the behemoth choked him to death. Namor found his answer a second later, cussing himself for not thinking it in the first place.

Reaching deep within himself, Namor grabbed the Hulk by the arms, making sure that he had a secure grip on him, and released his own bio-electricity, similar to that of the electric eel, in an outward burst. He was successful in electrocuting the Hulk for only a few seconds, thanks to the Hulk's superior invulnerability to most attacks, but it was enough for the Prince of Atlantis to move in for the offensive.

Reeling his fist back, Namor socked the Hulk right in the jaw with the remainder of his super-strength behind the punch. His attack was successful enough to force Hulk onto his back, the sound of what Namor would've mistaken for thunder accompanying it.

_Must return to the sea…regain my already waned strength. For it will be the death of me if I don't_, Namor mused as he staggered in the direction of the sea, truly exhausted from the ongoing battle with such an immensely powerful creature.

_He may have the advantage upon land, but once I get him into the sea, he shall be the one to fall to the sheer might of Namor, Prince of Atlantis!_

As the cooling waves lashed upon his feet as he stepped onto the shore, Namor could already feel his waning strength returning. Now he just needed to get the overgrown clod into its waters and victory will be his.

And his answer couldn't have come sooner as he turned just in time to see the Hulk charging toward him, rage expressed on his face and with the intention of "spearing" him into the thrashing water that seemed to mirror what the Hulk was feeling. He didn't even know that Namor would have the upper hand once they were submerged in it.

As the water lashed around the two powerhouses, Namor could feel his strength returning rather speedily, using it to drive the Hulk deeper into the depths. Thanks to his Atlantean physiology, Namor was able to breathe underwater with ease in the same fashion as humans breathe in air, thanks to the gills that were located behind his ears.

Hulk wasn't so lucky in that department. He had to rely on his enhanced lung capacity which, thankfully, enabled him to hold his breath for many hours. So not a total loss, but he was still at an disadvantage under the water nonetheless.

"You are now at my mercy Hulk!" Namor informed as he started to swim around the green giant with incredible speed, soon creating a whirlpool so intense that it affected the Hulk's consciousness, making him feel light-headed, and somehow sapping him of some of his strength.

Once Namor knew that the Hulk had ceased in his attack against him, he immediately stopped and swam to the green giant's side, hooking him under the arms and pulling him back to the surface. They were quite a way from the shore, but with the help of Namor's super-strength and speed, he managed to get them there in no time at all.

"I trust I have made my point quite clear, Hulk. That _you _are the most powerful on land, but I am completely invincible when submerged in the sea," Namor pointed out as he watched the Hulk climb to his feet, shaking his head as though it might relieve him of the light-headedness that still plagued his mind, but had found that his strength had been returned to him.

"Now to business," Namor started, hands firmly placed on his hips once again, "Judging from your hatred for the humans, it appears we both share a common enemy. Because of them, they have cost me my birthright, my people, everything that I hold close to my heart! I propose we band together and bring humanity to its knees!" He finished with a clench of his fist, certainty in his voice and in his facial expression.

"LITTLE MAN SUGGEST HULK TEAM UP? NOT BAD IDEA…AS YOU ARE STRONG LIKE HULK, BUT HULK STILL STRONGEST!" He announced in his usual manner, Namor not really caring who was the strongest as long as they were in an agreement.

"Then it is settled," Namor pronounced, "Our first mission shall be to deliver a smashing defeat to those accursed _**Avengers**_ I have been hearing about as of late!"

The Hulk had snarled like an enraged animal when Namor uttered the super-group's name, remembering instantly the battle he'd had with them only a hour ago at the Grand Canyon. The desire to fight them once again burning inside him, wanting to be let out.

"Come! We shall travel to a remote location where we will engage the Avengers into battle! Somewhere that'll value both our strengths so we shall be the victors." Afterward, Namor pressed a button that was situated on his gold belt, which sent an invisible signal to his submarine that emerged from under the surface a few seconds later.

Baring the noble crest of Atlantis on its front and gold in colour, the two super-powered beings entered the vessel, Namor leading in first, as he sat at the front with the controls while the Hulk stood behind, his colossal frame mostly taking up the space he was occupying.

Little did they know that they were both mentally plotting the other's demise.

_HULK TAG ALONG, SMASH FISH-MAN WHEN OFF-GUARD_, the Hulk mused as he watched the proud monarch steer the ship onto its course, not knowing where he was being taken, but then not really caring just as long as they were getting back at the Avengers.

_He's too strong, even for me. Luck was on my side when we battled, but that luck will soon run out if I'm not careful. He's also untrustworthy, unpredictable which is incredibly dangerous on my part. Once he's served his purpose, I shall have to destroy him quickly_, Namor spoke in thought, a smirk on his face, hidden from the Hulk as he continued to mull it over in addition to steering the ship to the desired location.

* * *

**An island situated off the south coast of Gibraltar**

Hours later, after spending it mostly in total silence, accompanied by the sound of the ship's engine humming gently, they'd reached their destination, the ship breaking the surface. Namor immediately shut off the engine, passing Hulk as he made his way over to the ladder, stopping for the moment to utter, "We have arrived," before disappearing up into the outside.

Hulk followed momentarily, the ship being large enough to allow him to climb up without discomfort, and when climbing out, found himself to be on the shore of a small island, facing a large cliff-face the same size as though back home.

"**This** is where we shall do battle with the Avengers. It harbours both our strengths, leaving us with no weaknesses," Namor made clear as he jumped off the ship into the shallow shore below, the Hulk continuing to follow.

"HULK DON'T CARE! HULK JUST WANT REMATCH WITH AVENGERS! PROVE TO THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT HULK IS STRONGEST!" The Hulk declared, even though to Namor it sounded more like he was shouting it, claiming it to anyone who could hear him, but only fell on the Atlantean monarch's pointed ears.

"Come, we must prepare for the upcoming battle."

* * *

**Back at Avengers H.Q, New York City**

Tony Stark, or rather Iron Man, was back in front of his console, furiously tapping away, concentrating in finding the Hulk before he caused any more dilemmas. Those of a "exploding and destructive" kind. Since they'd returned from their scuffle with the Hulk at the Grand Canyon, he'd been meaning to recharge his armour's battery, as it took a hell of a drainage, but he hadn't had time. The need to find the Hulk seeming to be the more important.

"Iron Man?" A soft, feminine voice emerged from the entrance into the Assembly Room, which they were now calling it, but it didn't stir the armoured Avenger away from the screen. "Iron Man, even you need to rest. I don't like to say it," Wasp continued, her heels clicking against the polished floor as she made her way over to the console, her hand resting on Iron Man's shoulder, "but you took the worst beating out of all of us against the Hulk, if you don't mind me saying," she added softly at the end.

Iron Man tensed, not because of Wasp, but rather at the fact that, even with his suit, he wasn't able to take down the Hulk, "I know what you're trying to say Wasp and I appreciate it, but I'm fine. Really. This armour can take quite a punch, if you haven't noticed. So don't worry about me."

Nevertheless Wasp shook her head, "No, that's not what I meant and you know it. I'm more worried about the person inside the armour than the armour itself. Whoever you are in there, you need to respite just as much as the rest of us. So please, for me at least, could you try taking a time-out, if only for a little while?"

In a way, Wasp was right. He was exhausted. He must've been searching for the Hulk's whereabouts for a few hours now, non-stop. It couldn't hurt to take a break for half-an-hour, maybe a little more. He hadn't "scored" any hits so far anyway and it'll be nice to escape into one of the rooms upstairs and getting out of the suit. Take a nice, long relaxing bath to soothe the aching muscles that were starting to play on him now.

"_**Okay, Wasp**_," Iron Man replied, his synthesizer always in effect to hide his true voice so as to not reveal his identity, "_**You've convinced me.**_" He laughed behind his mask, tapping a few buttons and getting up from his seat, "_**I shall turn this off and try again when I've truly rested**_."

The Wasp gave him a smile and pat on the shoulder before disappearing out of the Assembly Room, probably to join Giant-Man in the labs located on level B-1.

When he'd bought the townhouse a few months back, he'd bought it simply because it had lower levels as well as those above, and had his associates construct them into a variety of laboratories, as he knew he'd need them in the not-too-distant future. Guess he was right.

He was just about to press the ENTER button to put it to "sleep", in order for it to continue searching for the Hulk while it was powered down, when the alarms he'd installed to signal the team of any kind of disturbance happening in the world started to sing their song.

The Wasp returned, with Giant-Man and Thor in tow, all gathering around Iron Man as he punched in a few keys to bring up where his computer was detecting the disturbance. His relaxing will just have to wait until later. This was obviously more important.

On the screen it revealed the map of the world to the heroes and, blinking in the area at the entrance to the Mediterranean, a red dot pinpointed where the disturbance was coming from.

"_**It seems like some kind of beacon's been activated on that small island off the south coast of Gibraltar**_." Iron Man surmised, pointing at the screen as he did, "_**But what is its purpose? An SOS? A trap?**_"

"I hate to say it, Iron Man, but we won't know unless we find out for ourselves. Our finding of the Hulk will just have to wait until we've dealt with this crisis first." Giant-Man added, the Wasp and Thor agreeing simultaneously.

Iron Man nodded in agreement, "_**You're right, Giant-Man. It will also give me the perfect opportunity to test-drive one of Stark's newest creations and you three get the thrill of being the first to experience it**_." He added just a little too excitedly while the others just looked at each other, not having the slightest inkling what Iron Man was talking about…

* * *

**On the shores of an island south of Gibraltar**

It had only taken a hour to get to their desired location via underwater transportation in the shape of a deep-sea jet bathyscaphe which was actually an experimental prototype that Tony Stark's workers had just finished constructing and thus, hadn't been tested yet…until now.

It suddenly broke the surface of the sea and the Avengers emerged one-by-one from within until Iron Man was the last to climb out. Seeing how far they were from shore, they each used their unique powers to travel from the ship, not really wanting their costumes wet before they headed into whatever awaited them here.

As they gathered on the shore, Iron Man held up an arm and pressed one of the buttons on his gauntlet, it opening out and revealing a small screen with the map of the island on it, complete with a scanner which was already scrutinizing the area for any signs of anything really.

A few minutes later, it bleeped, drawing Iron Man's attention to it, "_**According to my wrist scanner, apart from us, there are only two others occupying this island and one of them is emitting low levels of radiation. That way**_," he pointed toward a cave that stood beneath a large enough cliff with trees at its peak.

Then Wasp basically said what everyone else was thinking, "It couldn't be the Hulk, could it? It couldn't be possible. He's thousands of miles that way," she added, her gloved finger pointing out to sea in the direction that they'd arrived in.

Iron Man shook his head, "_**You're right, Wasp. It couldn't be possible, unless Hulk can bound over entire oceans. Can he?**_" He even doubted himself about what the Hulk was capable of, but surely he couldn't perform such a feat. That would truly be…_incredible_, to say the least.

The sound of Giant-Man's voice effectively coerced Iron Man away from his thoughts, "We can worry about what the Hulk can do later. First, shouldn't we be busy exploring this place and finding out who or what sent that beacon?" He was right after all. _What is up with me today? Am I too hung-up on the Hulk that it's causing me to not think rationally?_ Iron Man thought as he lead them onward, into the mouth of the cave that could've held a single skyscraper inside it was that big.

"It's so dark in here I can't see where I'm going," the Wasp muttered under her breath once they'd gotten further inside, the darkness seeming to close in from all around them until it receded from the blue lightning that crackled around Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. The Thunder God using it exactly like you would a wooden torch.

"Doth this help, milady?" Thor asked with surprising softness in his voice, bringing a slight flush to Wasp's cheeks, who answered back just as softly with a, "Thank you, Thor," hoping it didn't attract Giant-Man's attention, but luckily it didn't. He was too busy watching out for stalactites to notice what was going on within the small group and, being with him for a year now, Wasp knew all about his "little" jealous streak.

After about 10, 15 minutes of seemingly endless walking through the darkness, with only the lightning projected from Mjolnir as guidance, the Avengers could see that they were coming up to the exit. The Sun's bright light shining like a beacon.

"Hey! I see light up ahead!" She cried jubilantly as Iron Man held up his hand, "_**Now we must tread carefully. We have no idea what could be waiting for us on the other side. **_**Be **_**on your guard**_." At the mention of this, Wasp promptly shrunk to the size of her namesake, Thor's hammer continued to crackle with lightning and Giant-Man clenched both fists, ready for anything that awaited them on the outside.

As they stepped out into the light, they found themselves in the entrance to a jungle and beside them, to their left to be precise, they saw a wide path that lead up the cliff, probably to its peak.

"Prepare to meet thy doom, Avengers!" They heard someone cry, distinguishing their voice to be of someone of noble blood or something similar.

Looking in the direction from where it originated from, the Avengers could see a half-naked, burly man with jet black hair that was slicked back, wearing what appeared to be green trunks with a gold belt and was bare-footed. Protruding from his ankles, they could see small, white-feathered wings and above his head, he held up a boulder the size of a car.

What surprised them the most was the fact that his ally, who was standing beside him with a boulder over his head also, was in fact…the Incredible Hulk! He was supposed to be back in the US of A, causing no end of havoc and destruction. Not here teaming up with a scantily-clad swimsuit model who seemed to possess superhuman strength, but to what extent?

"Now, Hulk!" The Sub-Mariner instructed, throwing his boulder first while the Green Giant followed swiftly afterward.

As one of them was heading straight for Giant-Man and the Wasp, the stronger of the two acted instantly, growing an extra 10 feet (now standing at a height of 25 feet), and grabbing the boulder in the palm of his hand, crushing it into dust thanks to his increased strength. He returned to his normal height of 6 foot once he was sure that the coast was clear.

The other was heading straight for Iron Man, but he obliterated it with a repulsor blast from one of his gauntlets, the remainder of its debris flying at both he and Thor, but they are unaffected. Being invulnerable and all.

Thor held out Mjonir in front of him and bellowed, "Halt thy attack, villains or suffer the wrath of Thor!" And just to make sure they got the point he was making, his body crackled in an aura of lightning whilst floating a few feet into the air.

Namor scoffed at the God of Thunder, hands firmly on his naked hips, "Huh! Villains?" He asked with disdain in his voice, "_**We **_are not the villains here, Thunder God!" He pointed at the Avengers before pointing back at himself and the Hulk, "It was not _**us**_ who destroyed my home of Atlantis! Because of you now I have to rebuild my empire from scratch and find and return my people to the place they'd once called "home"!"

Namor's face was flushed with anger, the muscles in his body tensing (which Wasp couldn't help noticing), his veins pulsing, becoming more visible. He was truly an intimidating sight, even if he was a super-strong human. Nothing the Avengers can't handle…until…

"_**Wait a minute**_!" Iron Man suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the half-naked man with a penchant for swimming trunks, "_**Your home is Atlantis? By any chance, could you be the Prince of Atlantis? Namor, the Sub-Mariner?**_"

At the mention of his name and stature, Namor stood proud, fists against his hips as he answered, "You are right to think so, armoured one, for I am Namor, Prince of Atlantis."

"_**It's **_**Iron Man**," he added before continuing,"_**And how can that be possible? You disappeared shortly before the ending of World War II? You've been missing for over 50 years?**_"

At hearing this surprising revelation, Wasp, who was at the moment sitting on Giant-Man's shoulder, looked at Namor in a totally different light, "What? Is Iron Man saying that he's over 50 years old? But he looks so…young…" she would've said something else, but with her lover being within ear-shot, she wittily decided against it.

"It appears, my dear, that we're dealing with someone who's no mere human," Giant-Man answered her, peering at Namor who'd heard his part of the conversation.

Namor smirked, "You are not wrong, giant man," not realizing that he'd just said his codename, "For it is because I am also half-Atlantean, therefore I age much slower and live much longer than you mere humans. I also acquire several abilities that differentiates me from both Atlanteans and humans…as you shall soon see," Namor added, turning to once again face the Hulk who, he could tell, was getting restless because they were too busy talking and not fighting.

"ENOUGH TALK! HULK SMASH!" Hulk bellowed, proving Namor's assumption as he dug his fingers into the very earth and lifted up a section of it with his vast super-strength. He was making another attempt at crushing the Avengers, but they were ready for the offence as usual.

"_**Your attempts are futile, Hulk**_." Iron Man pronounced as he lifted one of his gauntlets and fired another repulsor blast, effectively demolishing the ball of hardened earth. "_**Stop this and we can help you both. Please Namor, we can help you restore Atlantis to its former glory and find your people wherever they might be**_. _**We don't need to fight each other to achieve it**_." He urged, trying ever so hard not to lead this into another epic battle. He didn't think his armour could take another beating like back in Arizona. He still hadn't recharged it because he didn't have the time to.

However, Namor was unconvinced, pointing once again at the Avengers, "You cannot sway me, Iron Man. My home's been destroyed and you, humanity, is the cause of it. I vowed I'd take revenge and take it I shall. Hulk, attack!"

Uh-oh. This was it. This was the epic battle that Iron Man was trying to avoid but ah well, at the end of the day it always ended in violence. Quickly, he turned to his fellow Avengers, "_**Alright, if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they shall have. Giant-Man, you and Wasp take care of Namor, but don't underestimate him. He looks like trouble. Me and Thor shall take down the Hulk**_."

Giant-Man clapped his hands and rubbed them together, "Alright, now I get to show what Giant-Man's capable of." Growing up to 15 feet, thinking that his strength and durability would be enough at that height to deal with Namor, he charged forward, the ground trembling beneath his feet as he did. Wasp followed after him, zipping through the air fast in her shrunken form.

The Hulk leapt into the air, clearing over Giant-Man as he plummeted back down, his feet right above Thor in an attempt to crush him beneath his feet, but the Thunder God saw through the attack and moved out of the way with time to spare. Thor turned on the spot, Mjolnir clenched tightly in his palm as he swung it at the Hulk's jaw, sending him flying across the air and encasing him into the cliff wall.

It was a predictable move, but highly effective.

After urging himself out of the hole he just made, the Hulk howled his battle cry, 'HULK SMASH!' and, with fists tightly compressed, he slammed them against the ground, causing a massive shockwave that travelled swiftly toward Thor and Iron Man.

Both wielding the power of flight, they both soared into the air to avoid the attack, but couldn't have anticipated Hulk's next move. While the two Avengers were busy dodging the attack by flying into the air, Hulk used his surprising speed to charge forward, gaining momentum, before bounding into the air, directly at Thor.

Even for the Thunder God, he didn't see it coming. In the air, Hulk covered Thor's head with his entire hand and, like his fight with Iron Man earlier, used the force of the fall to slam him into the ground, Thor's invulnerable body creating a small crater beneath him.

In retaliation, Iron Man lifted his gauntlets, aiming them at the Hulk before releasing several repulsor blasts from its palms. The energy beams, however, bounced off Hulk's back, which did nothing, but make him angrier and Iron Man knew what that meant.

Leaving Thor for the moment, Hulk spun around to face Iron Man, his face full of pure anger and rage, his veins bulging as he tensed his humongous muscles, roaring, "HULK CRUSH IRON MAN LIKE TIN CAN!"

As the Hulk came charging towards the red-and-gold Avenger, Iron Man uttered to himself, "Uh oh, this can't be good!" and flew back up into the air, giving him enough space to breathe and plan his next move wisely.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the rocky clearing, Namor was proving to be quite the battler as he tussled with Giant-Man, despite his great size, whilst dodging Wasp's "stingers". And he should be, for one such as he has tackled sea monsters twice the size of Giant-Man and lived to tell the tale.

"You had best surrender now, Avengers! You can't possibly win against the might of Namor!" He boasted as he managed to throw Giant-Man over his shoulder with ease, the earth rumbling like an earthquake when he connected with it. Wasp couldn't help, but marvel at the Sub-Mariner's amazing strength.

"Don't be too hasty, Namor! We're not going to give up easily!" She retorted, skimming through the air as fast as her wings could carry her and aimed her palms at Namor's head, firing off several "stinger" blasts to try and distract him, giving Giant-Man the time to recover and maybe catch this guy off-guard.

The feat worked like before with the Hulk, disorientating the prince and giving Giant-Man the chance to grab him within his gigantic hand and slam him hard against the sandy floor, Namor's invulnerable body creating a small crater underneath him.

"I suggest you stay down mister, if you know what's good for ya," Giant-Man cautioned the Prince of Atlantis who, due to lack of water, was slowly beginning to feel rather weak, struggling even to lift the giant hand that was currently pinning him down.

"I…shall…not," Namor strained as he gripped the giant finger nearest to him with both hands and forced it up with all his remaining might. It seemed to be working for a second, but Giant-Man increased more strength, successfully pinning the Prince of Atlantis for good.

"I wasn't kidding, _Prince Namor_." Giant-Man informed with added venom, even making the Wasp shudder as she'd not seen him like this before. She grew back to her normal height and placed her hands on her hips, looking down at Namor who was still struggling, even after Hank's warning.

"Hulk! Help me, you thick-headed buffoon!" Namor cried out, the Hulk hearing the insult toward him and huffed, backhanding both Thor and Iron Man away before charging toward Giant-Man.

"Giant-Man, look out!" Wasp warned, but it was too late. The Hulk was too fast, shoulder-barging the giant Avenger with all of his natural strength, sending his costumed foe crashing onto his side, inevitably letting go of Namor.

The Wasp quickly shrunk back to wasp size and began firing her stinger blasts while retreating back to Thor and Iron Man, but Hulk was shaking them off with the bat of his hand. He then clapped his hands together, generating enough force to blast Wasp away, her minuscule body falling upon that of her fallen boyfriend, returning back to her normal height once again.

Thor and Iron Man, in the meantime, had recovered from Hulk's super-powered backhand and were now flying to Giant-Man and Wasp's aid as the Hulk and Namor retreating into the forest, probably to give themselves some space to recuperate.

"_**Okay Giant-Man, Wasp. Up and at 'em!**_" Iron Man coaxed, gently easing them from unconsciousness whilst Thor kept his eyes on the retreating duo, noting which direction they'd taken.

Once Wasp had recovered, she slid off of her boyfriend's giant body, her palm placed upon the side of her head as a small headache was beginning to form, "Whoa…I'm starting to get pretty sick of being clapped by that green lug." She uttered, as her boyfriend was coming around also, "Wow, it never ceases to amaze me that, even at my great height, I still feel like I've been hit by a bus." He stretched his back and a few seconds later heard a satisfying click.

"We hath no time to waste. Hulk and Namor art retreating into the forest. We must hurry if we're not to lose them," Thor pointed out, indicating their foes' retreat with an outstretched arm, Mjolnir held in his palm.

"_**You're not wrong there, Thor. Come on Avengers, we've got them by the ropes…now let's reel them in so we can go home**_." Iron Man flew up in front, with Thor, Wasp and Giant-Man flying and stomping behind him, the sense of victory in the air as they descended deep into the forest…

Up in front, Hulk was stampeding through the trees, knocking them away as he passed while Namor flew overhead, his ankle wings helping him to steer out of the way of the flying trees, the need for water now clearly evident. If he remembered correctly, the direction they were currently heading in would lead them to a small lagoon, perfect to help regain his superior strength. Now, he only had to keep the Hulk under check until his plan was complete and then, he shall rid himself of the Hulk. No use having him around when all he seemed to do was destroy everything that got in his way, like he was doing at the moment with the trees.

A few moments later, they'd reached the lagoon and it was the perfect place for their final showdown with the Avengers.

As he descended back down to earth, Namor approached the Hulk and replied nobly, "Hulk, watch the entrance for the Avengers and notify me the second they arrive. I need to take this moment to recuperate in the lagoon's waters and regain my strength. Your super strength alone can't defeat the Avengers." He then turned his back on the Hulk before diving into the lagoon, leaving the green giant to contemplate his own plan to rid himself of the revenge-hungry prince.

The waters felt cool against his sun-soaked skin as he delved deeper, felt his strength returning once more as he swam back up to the lagoon's surface, soaring back into the air once he'd broken through it. Now filled with dynamic vitality, he returned to the shore to find that the Hulk was no-where in sight.

"Hulk? Where the devil has that simple-minded lout gotten to? Has he retreated? Deserted me when we're so close to victory?" Namor spoke out loud yet no-one seemed to answer his questions until…

"_**Deserted…most likely, but you being close to victory? Not even close**_," uttered Iron Man, hovering in front of his assembled team with Giant-Man directly behind him, back to his 15ft stature, Wasp in her shrunken form flittering on his right side while Thor floated on his left, arms crossed over his large chest with Mjolnir held tightly in hand, pale-blue lightning crackling around his body.

Namor was at a loss for words. He knew in his heart that he wasn't going to win this fight this day, but he hated the fact that he must retreat and, if there was one thing the Prince of Atlantis hated more than humanity itself, it was retreating.

He pointed at the Avengers, anger apparently being a natural expression for Namor, "Mark my words, Avengers, I will have my revenge against humanity! So decrees Namor!" And with that said, he turned his back on them and dove back into the lagoon, using its underwater tunnels to return to his sub-aqua home.

Revolving around so he was back to facing his team, Iron Man quipped, "_**Well, I have to say that went better than expected, wouldn't you say?**_"

* * *

Elsewhere, on the other side of the island, beyond the edges of the forest, a half-naked figure, wearing tattered navy-blue trousers and barefooted, seemed to be running for his very life. He was panting, out of breath, lungs burning, but he didn't seem to care. All he wanted was to get out of there and away from such violence he always seemed to be mixed up in. Ever since he could transform into the super-strong and rampaging Hulk whenever he felt emotionally stressed or incredibly angry.

_Got to find a way off this island or at least a phone. I need to phone Betty and tell her of my situation. I haven't told her I'm the Hulk yet so I'll need to think of a white lie to tell her so she can get her father to send someone for me. I vaguely remember how I even got here as the Hulk. The only other thing I remember is battling against the Avengers and being in the presence of an Atlantean royal, but that's about it. My mind's a total blank on anything else_, thought Dr. Bruce Banner, jumping over a fallen tree trunk as, luck would have it, he saw a small village that looked to have some technological support and a small port situated on the coast.

He was saved.

* * *

Eventually finding his way out through the underwater tunnels, Namor carried on swimming in the direction of Atlantis, pressing a button on the belt of his swimming trunks to summon his submarine back home, not wanting the Avengers to find and utilize it for their own purposes. As he swam through the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, all he could feel was rage and frustration towards failing to exact his revenge on the humans this day, but, at the same time, feeling extremely ashamed, imagining the looks from his people's faces and especially from his cousin's, the Lady Dorma, who taught him that revenge was never the answer and that it never looked good on him.

Before all this had happened, Prince Namor was known to be a caring and selfless monarch who thought of nothing, but for the wellbeing of his people. He fought Hitler and the Third Reich in World War II alongside a team of Allied heroes that called themselves "The Invaders", namely Captain America, his sidekick Bucky and the original Human Torch, among others. A few days before the war finally ended, he was struck by an unexpected explosion, which knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, he found himself on the shores of France and suffering from amnesia. There, for the next 50 years or so, he lived in a small village and had built himself a life around it. Only recently did his memory return to him, ironically by him accidentally falling into the sea, and he soon set off to find Atlantis, but what he found was not what he was expecting. He found Atlantis, his kingdom, in ruin and his people were gone. That was only a few days ago.

_Bask in your victory for now, Avengers, for soon I shall have mine! I promise you that!_ he contemplated to himself as he delve deeper, his mind busy thinking of a plan that will finally have the Avengers on the knees…

**The End of Issue 2**

* * *

**Enemies**:

**Namor, the Sub-Mariner** - Due to his unusual heritage, Namor's unique among both ordinary humans and Atlanteans from the fact that he's a hybrid of both species. Because of that, Namor possesses a fully amphibious physiology, but retaining the body of a physically fit human male, perfectly suited for extreme undersea pressures, superhuman strength that's dependent upon his physical contact with water, speed, agility, durability, flight by unknown means, and longevity. It's also rumoured that he may be well over 80 years old, but has the appearance of a male of his prime.

**The Hulk** AKA **Bruce Banner** - Possesses near-limitless physical strength depending directly on his emotional state, particularly his anger, he also possesses vast superhuman durability, healing and endurance. He can also leap vast distances and has displayed sufficient superhuman speed to match even Thor.

Issue 2


End file.
